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The Aussie Fundraiser finale’ – A great success!

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It was a case of second time lucky with the weather for the “Aussie Fundraiser” on Sunday and the weather this time around was perfect. The event was a joint effort with Dive Ski & Surf (Dive Locker Fremantle) and Perth Scuba (Dive Locker Canning Vale).

The idea… To do a clean up event for Project AWARE’s Dive against Debris at the same time as raising some money for a couple of very deserving charities.

The clean up crew started arriving from 7am at Fishing Boat Harbour in Fremantle on what was looking like a much better day than forecast. After signing in and going through all of the paperwork formalities as well as being hit up for a few hard earned dollars for the fundraiser raffle – the divers set up their gear and checked out the boardwalk to see what needed to be done. By 9am (the kick off time) there were around 60 divers ready to jump into the water with the now famous giant stride photograph entry. To assist the divers there were 15 surface support ranging from Medics to Log in/out crew and lots of bag collectors and raffle ticket sales people (who were spreading the word about what we were doing) in between.

After a pre dive briefing from Marc Van DerPoel – Perth Scuba’s Tec Diving Guru and a few words from Lee it was time to head to the entry point and make a huge splash!

The groups were split up and areas allocated to clean up and after the big stride entry – the event was officially open. Within just a half an hour the first Ute load of rubbish was on its’ way to the tip and with lots more to come it was only a matter of another hour that it was full again.

Overall in just 3 hours there was over 3 tonnes of rubbish collected and the Harbour was looking better by the minute. The event started to wind up at around 11.30 with a couple of Perth Scuba’s legendary BBQ experts preparing a feast for the divers and support crew at the surface. The hotdogs kindly donated by Bakers Delight and the drinks from Cicerellos & Schweppes went down a treat with lots left over to share with passers by.

The Fundraising part of the event went very well with “sales guru “ Lindsay doing a fantastic job on the day. (If anyone knows who Lindsay sold his family to on the day – please let us know), he did a great job and sold lots of tickets to the raffle.

The prizes for the raffle ranged from Open water Dive courses donated by Perth Scuba and Dive Ski & Surf, Snorkeling package from Tusa, Dive computer from Cressi, Wetsuit from Water Proof, First Aid Book set from DAN, IST Dive Pack to a Surface Marker Buoy from Surface Marker with a first prize of a week in the Philippines diving with full Nitrox and unlimited dives including accommodation valued at over $1100.

A total prize pool of over $4000 was on offer and the winners were drawn at 12 noon on Monday.

The overall fundraising event netted nearly $2000 with Special Thanks to Joey Pool of Perth Scuba who donated a day’s wages to the fundraiser event and to all of the supporters’ donations and to the sponsors of the event who donated prizes.

Most of all a huge thank you to the crew who donated their time to roll up their sleeves for another fantastic cause. You all did a great job and one of our waterways is now a few tonnes of rubbish cleaner than 2 days ago. The fight against Debris in our oceans has well and truly begun.

Well Done!

Thank you also to the 2 guys who made this all possible – Tommy Soderstrom and Allan Nash. These guys rode their bikes around Australia leading clean up days and fundraising events in every capital city in every state. Their unbeatable stamina showing that anything is possible. We take our hats off to you guys and we appreciate the support.

Unfortunately the conditions on the original day prevented Tommy and Allan from being there on the day – but there is nothing that can’t be done with Photoshop right??

We hope you enjoy looking at the photographs as much as we did. Another fantastic event!

Calling all PADI® Pros: ReMember Ocean Protection

Support ocean protection with your PADI® Member Renewal to receive the new limited edition Project AWARE silky shark mask strap pad as a special thank you.

Project AWARE is a global movement of scuba divers protecting our ocean planet – one dive at a time. Focused on the critical issues of Sharks in Peril and Marine Debris, Project AWARE empowers thousands to work together for a clean, healthy and abundant ocean planet.